Glasgow Short Film Festival, the largest competitive short film festival in Scotland, brings together Scottish and international filmmakers, industry delegates and the local audience for an intense five days of competition screenings, unique special programmes, workshops and parties.

GSFF has earned an international reputation for quality curation. This is reflected in the increasing numbers of filmmakers, talent spotters and festival programmers who attend each year. GSFF has been invited to collaborate with festivals and exhibitors in Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and across the UK.

Prizes and qualifications

Bill Douglas Award for International Short Film - All entries are eligible. Cash prize.

International Audience Award - All entries are eligible.

Scottish Short Film Award - All Scottish entries are eligible. Cash prize.

Scottish Audience Award - All Scottish entries are eligible. Prize commission to create GSFF trailer for the following year’s festival.

Additional prizes may be awarded in 2019, dependent on sponsors.

Rules

Please read the following regulations before submitting your film to GSFF 2020.

The organisation

1. Glasgow Short Film Festival, the largest competitive short film festival in Scotland, champions new film talent by providing an annual showcase and meeting point for new and established Scottish and international filmmakers, industry delegates and the local audience.

3. The 13th edition of GSFF takes place 18-22 March 2020 in Glasgow, UK.

4. GSFF and Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) are are two separate organisations with two different programming teams. GFF does not accept short film submissions.

Eligibility

4. The festival is open to short films of all production techniques, forms, genres and budgets.

5. The primary contact completing the submission process must be authorised to submit the film for consideration including permission from a distributor or sales agent representing the film and must have obtained necessary permissions for the inclusion of copyrighted music and/or images within the films. With this submission, the applicant confirms that they possess all rights necessary for the screening of the submitted film at this film festival.

6. Films must have been completed after 30 September 2018 with a maximum duration of 50 minutes including credits.

7. Films previously submitted to previous editions of the festival will not be considered. If substantial structural changes have been made to the film since a previous submission, please contact submissions@glasgowshort.org to discuss your entry.

8. GSFF has no premiere status rule, and accepts works that are available online.

Data protection

9. Before you can submit your film you will be asked to register your contact and film details. These details will only be shared with GSFF. GSFF ensures this information will NEVER be used for anything other than direct contact from the festival or one of the festival’s submission partners and will NEVER be shared with anyone else.

Submission fees

10. There is a submission fee to enter your film. Films submitted by the Regular Deadline of Tuesday 8 October are charged €12. Films submitted by the Late Deadline of Tuesday 12 November are charged €18.

11. The submission fee is waived for single entries if the applicant resides in one of the Least Developed Countries: https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/least-developed-country-category/ldcs-at-a-glance.html

12. GSFF does not have the facility to apply refunds. Please ensure your film meets the eligibility criteria before submitting.

13. Applicants may enter as many eligible films as they wish. A separate entry form, upload and additional entry fee is required for each film submission.

15. Discounts for multiple submissions must be sought before the films have been submitted. Multiple discounts cannot be applied retrospectively after the films have already been submitted.

Digital submissions

16. GSFF accepts submissions via FestHome. You are able to upload your film as a digital file via a secure external link through this website once your registration details have been completed. GSFF guarantees that your film will never be used in any way other than that to which you agree and will not be available online to the public.

17. Please ensure that your upload adheres to the specifications supplied by FestHome.

18. Please submit your film digitally. It may be possible to submit via DVD to the submission platform, however there may be an additional charge paid directly to the submission platform to cover the cost of the necessary administration and technical set-up used to digitise your film.

19. It is up to the applicant to ensure that the preview copy is in full working order.

20. All films selected for competition, and all Scottish films submitted to the festival, will be copied onto a local server and made accessible to accredited industry guests in our Digital Videotheque during the festival. The primary contact details given on the entry form will be made available to festival delegates unless a distributor is identified. The Videotheque may also be available on a password protected site for industry users for a period of no more than 3 months after the festival.

21. All selected films may be stored in the festival archive and used for internal research purposes. GSFF will never publicly screen or publish online a film for which permission has not been granted.

Contact

22. For all enquiries please contact submissions@glasgowshort.org.

Award eligibility

23. Bill Douglas Award for International Short Film - All entries are eligible. International Audience Award - All entries are eligible. Scottish Short Film Award - All Scottish entries are eligible. Scottish Audience Award - All Scottish entries are eligible.

24. A film is considered eligible for the Scottish competition if at least two of the following key positions - director, writer, producer - are filled by people resident in Scotland. Exceptions may be made at the discretion of the GSFF Director..

25. If a film is eligible for the Scottish competition, it is the responsibility of the submitter to indicate this when submitting the film.

Foreign language films

26. If the original language of any dialogue or text featured in the film is not English, the preview and screening copy must be subtitled in English, unless this is at variance with the filmmaker’s intention.

Selection procedure

27. Submitted films are viewed by two or more members of the selection team. All programming selections are at the discretion of the GSFF Director, whose decision is final.

28. GSFF will not provide comments on films prior to submission, nor reasons for rejection of a submitted film, however we are happy to provide informal feedback on individual films after the festival has taken place. Please contact the festival in late March. Note that this is a non-binding commitment.

Notification

29. The festival will not confirm the receipt of submissions and preview copies. All applicants will be notified via e-mail about the selection or rejection of their film by the end of January 2020.

Festival competition screenings

30. Films in competition screen from DCP. If your film is not available on DCP, GSFF will make a DCP transfer from Quicktime file at no charge.

31. Films in the international competition screen publicly twice. Films in the Scottish competition screen publicly once. Films may be screened privately to the jury or to accredited guests. Films may also be included in other public programmes, subject to the submitter’s permission.

32. There are no fees for participating in the festival competitions. Participants are not entitled to claim rental or other fees for the screenings of their films at the festival.

Further screenings and touring programmes

33. If selected for the festival, the submitter authorises GSFF to file their film in the festival archive, where it may be made available for further screenings or events promoted by the festival itself, solely for cultural and not for commercial purposes (unless otherwise specified on accepting an invitation to screen at the festival). The festival will always request permission and give reasonable notice before proceeding with any further screening. The festival will never allow any third party access to the film without the submitter's permission.

34. GSFF occasionally creates themed touring programmes from films that were submitted to the festival but not selected. These programmes will be subject to separate agreements. In some cases they may include some financial reimbursement.

Publicity

35. In addition to the reproduction of stills of selected films for all GSFF publications and press, selected films may also be screened as part of preview screenings to promote GSFF 2020.

36. The festival will publish the email address for a previous agreed contact (usually the Primary Contact) and Distributor in the Digital Videotheque and in the festival catalogue.

Submission agreement

37. At the point of payment on your submission you will be asked if you have read and agreed with the festival’s regulations. By agreeing to proceed with your submission you are agreeing to these regulations and your application can then be processed. Entry of a film is binding and implies acceptance of these regulations.

38. In the event of disagreement concerning the interpretation of the regulations, the interpretation of the festival will take precedence.

39. Failure to comply with these regulations may result in the submission being disqualified.

40. These regulations are subject to change without prior notice.

Delivery instructions for selected films

41. Full delivery instructions will be provided on notification of selection.

42. GSFF will cover one-way shipping costs only.

43. It is the responsibility of the submitter to inform the festival of any change to the onward delivery address, otherwise the festival reserves the right to return the screening copy to the contact address as specified during submission.

Attending the festival

44. GSFF encourages all selected filmmakers to attend the festival, and offers guest passes to each film selected for international or Scottish competition. Any selected filmmakers attending from outside Scotland will be offered up to four nights’ accommodation in a Glasgow hotel. Additional travel support may be available.

Bill Douglas Award for International Short Film

Short Films 50'< (2018+)

Fee-8%

Standard12€11.04€
08 Oct 19

Late18€16.56€
12 Nov 19

Submissions deadline
12 Nov 19

Save up
0.96€

Submit

Named in honour of Scotland's greatest filmmaker, the Bill Douglas Award for International Short Film will be awarded to the international film that best reflects the qualities found in the work of Bill Douglas: honesty, formal innovation and the supremacy of image and sound in cinematic storytelling. Around forty international films in all genres are selected to compete for the award, which carries a cash prize. All films in the competition are also eligible for the International Audience Award, voted by the attending viewers.

Scottish Short Film Award

Short Films 50'< (2018+)

Fee-8%

Standard12€11.04€
08 Oct 19

Late18€16.56€
12 Nov 19

Submissions deadline
12 Nov 19

Save up
0.96€

Submit

The Scottish Short Film Award honours inspiration and innovation in new Scottish cinema. Around 20 films are selected to compete for the award, which carries a cash prize.

All selected films will also be eligible for the Scottish Audience Award. Decided by audience vote, the winner of this award will receive a commission to make the 2021 trailer.